Dolly became Ireland's first wrestler to surface in the world rankings after shining at the European Championships

ODU Sports

Alex Dolly Climbs to No. 17 in World Rankings

May 09, 2014
By ODU Athletics

Norfolk, Va. – Old Dominion assistant wrestling coach Alex Dolly is ranked 17th in the world according to the latest FILA Official World Rankings which were released on Friday, May 2. Dolly, who represents Ireland in international competition, became the country’s first wrestler to surface in the world rankings after an impressive showing at the European Championships last month. After dropping his opening bout, Dolly battled all the way back to reach the bronze medal bout where he squared off against 2012 silver medalist Musa Murtazaliev of Armenia. Despite holding a lead for much of the match, Dolly suffered a heartbreaking loss on criteria in those bronze medal finals, but his performance was enough to land him a slot in the international rankings.

Entering the international rankings only adds to Dolly’s already-superb résumé. Last June, he won the 2013 British Senior Championships in Welshpool, England. Not only did Dolly go a perfect 4-0 in the 84-kilo freestyle tournament, but he also never allowed a single point throughout the championship. Dolly became the first wrestler from Ireland to win this tournament since the 1960’s.

Further, in September 2011, Dolly represented Ireland at the 2011 FILA World Championships in Istanbul, Turkey, competing in the 84-kilogram senior freestyle division. Dolly reached the quarterfinal round by defeating Alvarez Martinez of Honduras in his opening match 9-1 and followed that up with a 9-0 victory over Dejan Bogdanov of Macedonia before falling to Japan's Shinya Matsumoto in the quarterfinals by a narrow 6-4 score. His performance earned him a ninth place finish at the 2011 World's.

Next up for Dolly will be the FILA Senior World Freestyle Championships which will take place September 8-14, 2014 in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.